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SmugMug Media Centre Plugin
Ant177
Registered Users Posts: 4 Beginner grinner
I'm busy working on a plugin for the open source Media Centre software "MediaPortal" (http://www.team-mediaportal.com).
My idea is that as more and more people have computers connected to their TVs and using Media Centre type software people will start to use these systems for a lot of different types of viewing.
So as well as your films you can show people your latest holiday snaps without having to crowd around a computer or a laptop, they're just on the TV.
So far I've only been working on it for a day or two so far so it is incredibly unstable and very easy to confuse as you're navigating the hierarchy. I've got very basic functionality completed; you can view a list of categories, sub-categories, albums and - obviously - view photos!
What would people want to see in a program like this? Initially I am planning on just having read only access so you can browse through categories. Then I'll add support for browsing by tag etc
Eventually I'll want to integrate some uploading functionality; because most HTPC setups have memory cards on the front it would be a perfect way to upload to SmugMug. Plug your memory card in to the PC, fill in the category details and so on and then while the slideshow is playing your images are uploaded to SmugMug in the background.
I'm also investigating the possibilities for integrating in to the Microsoft Media Centre software (I've created this plugin in as generic a way as I can so that it should be easy to move to other platforms) but that will be a while yet!
So, ideas? Comments? Suggestions? Criticism like "No one will ever use such a pointless program why are you wasting your time?"
I'll take some screenshots today and probably upload a very very preliminary build if anyone wants to experiment with it.
My idea is that as more and more people have computers connected to their TVs and using Media Centre type software people will start to use these systems for a lot of different types of viewing.
So as well as your films you can show people your latest holiday snaps without having to crowd around a computer or a laptop, they're just on the TV.
So far I've only been working on it for a day or two so far so it is incredibly unstable and very easy to confuse as you're navigating the hierarchy. I've got very basic functionality completed; you can view a list of categories, sub-categories, albums and - obviously - view photos!
What would people want to see in a program like this? Initially I am planning on just having read only access so you can browse through categories. Then I'll add support for browsing by tag etc
Eventually I'll want to integrate some uploading functionality; because most HTPC setups have memory cards on the front it would be a perfect way to upload to SmugMug. Plug your memory card in to the PC, fill in the category details and so on and then while the slideshow is playing your images are uploaded to SmugMug in the background.
I'm also investigating the possibilities for integrating in to the Microsoft Media Centre software (I've created this plugin in as generic a way as I can so that it should be easy to move to other platforms) but that will be a while yet!
So, ideas? Comments? Suggestions? Criticism like "No one will ever use such a pointless program why are you wasting your time?"
I'll take some screenshots today and probably upload a very very preliminary build if anyone wants to experiment with it.
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Account configuration screen - you can have more than one SmugMug account at the same time, each SmugMug "nickname" you want to be able to view must have it's own account here.
Account configuration, set whether it is an anonymous access, using a site password or if you're the owner of the site. You will eventually be able to use other online galleries (boooooo hissssss) at the request of some of my unenlightened friends who refuse to change to SmugMug
List of categories on your account - empty categories (such as all the pre-populated categories) are filtered out.
Each category is treated as a folder, when you go in to the category you get the list of sub-categories and albums.
At the moment there are no icons to differentiate between categories and albums, this is obviously planned though!
Finally the "filmstrip" view, this is the first view I'm working on as I think it will be the most used. The other feature I'll be adding initially is the slideshow system that - oddly enough - shows a slideshow of the current album!
Simple really but quite nice to be able to share photos with friends without faffing at the computer or crowding around a laptop.
If anyone uses the Media Portal software then just give me a shout and I'll send you a very preliminary version so that you can test it.
I would like to ask you about status of your plug-in today. Can I use it too or test it please? It will be awesome feature fot my HTPC with Mediaportal to connect it with Smugmug.
Thank you!